How to create your own self-watering planter. Turn any container into a self-watering planter. Very easy to follow instructions. No one is able to explain this in a simple way but the process is very easy to follow!
View diagram and full instructions here:
Materials you’ll need:
1- Planter / Container that you want to make self-watering (must be deep enough and not have any drainage holes); recommendations for containers are available at the link above.
2- PVC Pipe
3- Divider/False Bottom
Option 1: Hardware Cloth
Option 2: Rubber feed bowl
4- Garbage Bag
5- 2 solo cups
6- Potting soil
7- Plants/Flowers
Tools:
Hacksaw or pipe cutter
Drill
Shovel
Hose
View diagram and full instructions here:
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35 Comments
Very nice, thank you for the tutorial. One thing though: garbage bags are chemically treated for pest control. You may want to avoid that in a food planter.
I think this is a good model. I used strips of hydroponic wicking mat instead of a plastic cup, as you can just thread it past or through the mesh base. The only thing I'm not sure is whether I needed food safe plastic if it's just ornamental plants. Not sure if other plastic poisons them over time.
Seems like a great idea. Question? What about root rot. Since the soil is sitting in water won’t it rot out the roots?? Thanks in advance.
The reason this is so simple & easy is because it’s for watering-only-wicking. The more complex designs include wicking oxygen into the soil as well, so you don’t have to regularly refresh or replace your soil.
total beginner here – but when you simply cut a cross on that plastic bag (nothing else – (not even a tape to fix the cup to the bag)…isn't there a risk of that cut going to expand further? Maybe the roots sense the gap and the water underneath and open and break the seal between soil and water?
This inspired me to convert 5 (so far) plastic planters from Costco to self watering. The lower maintenance the better!
V nicely explained
Wow. This is the best version I’ve seen. I actually didn’t walk away scratching my head. Thank you 🙏
i imagined something like this and this completed what i was thinking
Rather than sacrifice a perfectly good rubber feed bowl, pick up an oil pan from Dollar Tree for $1.25. It's the same size & blac plastic. I buy lots of these come planting season because they'e so useful for so many things.
Great ideas!! Thanks
Your design is too expensive.
Tyvm Amy, you’ve been helpful I’m def gonna try and make some of those next season.
Dirt is under our finger nails ,soil is what feeds our plant. Finally you changed from saying dirt to correctly saying soil .
Won't the dirt in the cup rot and stink, given that the dirt is sitting in the reservoir of water? How about sand instead of soil in the cup? The sand won't rot.
You are the best!!!! Thank you for such a great and simple explanation. I finally understand what I need for do. Thank you thank you, thank you!!
New to gardening, trying to understand. The soil in the cup.. the holes are for the water to seep into the soil, right? Then, the wet soil is touching the planter soil, is that enough to transfer to water to the entire planter? Do you think this would work with any type of plant (for ex thirsty ones or succulents both?)
That is great, I can possibly use this idea with the sandponics beds that I am planning to create.
Hi PPDG – great video, simple concept. We're contemplating re-potting some large-ish plants, even palms, in our conservatory. Can we scale up your design?
you could just use a cotton wick and not have to do all that work.
the pipe, the cup,the pvc stand, the plastic bag consume a lot of space which reduce the space for roots especially for the plants in tropical climate/ i wonder whether this will work!????
By far the most complicated video on this
Your solo cups will leech sand out into your reservoir over time…plus some other minor errors that will not allow your design to achieve longevity
Can I use this to grow vegetables like bell peppers or any other kind.
hi. great video. does the soil above get all it"s water from the dixie cup alone? do you have to put a wick also to bring up the water? keep up the good work.
That was to complicated ,big bottle hose + cloth. finish
Clickbait 👎🏾 That’s a way of watering from the bottom, not “self-watering” as water would have to be manually applied, it wouldn’t water itself as needed. 👎🏾
3:17 You must put some garden fabric on top of the screen to avoid soil facing through. Screen alone is a flaw in design.
I love your method.
Because it is so complicated
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Our grandparents said Grace prior to every meal. We got away from it, why I don't know. Thank you for closing with your prayer. It's a reminder we take too many things for granted. I'm thinking of a way to make a waterproof sign of this prayer in our garden for all to see when they pick their 'bread'.
If planting vegetables, would fertilizer be beneficial?
Don't you need to poke holes in the plastic bag so the roots can reach thru to the reservoir? The Earth Boxes that I have all have simply a plastic mesh above the reservoir so the roots can grow thru and get water when they are thirsty. Also, shouldn't there be an over-flow drain to allow water to drain out of the container in case of a torrential downpour of rain and the plants get too much water?
This is the most comprehensible of this method and good presentation!
Right on time, tomorrow is going to be warm in the Chicago area, I can work on the containers in my patio. Thanks for sharing.
What is the size of the container in the video?
I tried to make a self watering container with an old metal bathtub. Even though I put my water level at the height of my drain hole and I had a screen to separate the dirt from the water I used old socks as my wicking agent. but because of it being a whole bathtub I used 3 socks. Well it kept the dirt too wet and nothing survived. So I have to take it apart again and either use the compacted dirt shown here or reduce the socks to one.